Various skin treatments include applying a substance or material to the skin. For example, the substance may be applied for the purpose of modifying or otherwise treating the skin so as to achieve a therapeutic or esthetic effect. The substance may variously be applied to the skin in the form of a cream, liquid, mist, patch, or powder.
The substance is typically applied topically to the outmost layer of the skin. The substance typically includes one or more active ingredients. The active ingredients are typically dissolved or suspended in a solvent liquid or gel.
However, in order for the applied substance to achieve its intended effect, one or more of the active ingredients may be required to penetrate into deeper layers of the skin, or into subcutaneous tissue or blood vessels. Such an active ingredient may include a medication or a bioactive material.
One technique used to cause an active ingredient of a topically applied substance to penetrate into the skin is iontophoresis. Topical application of a substance containing the active ingredient together with iontophoresis is sometimes utilized as a less invasive alternative to injection or similar techniques. With iontophoresis, molecules of the active ingredient that is to penetrate the skin are ionized. An electric field that is applied to the surface of the skin may then propel the ionized molecules through the skin and into subcutaneous tissue.
It is an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide a device for convenient delivery of an active ingredient of a topically substance through skin.
Other aims and advantages of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent after reading the present invention and reviewing the accompanying drawings.